Karen,

I may have not expressed myself in a technically correct way and "caloric" is probably not a good word in this context. But that's not my real point. I'm sure there's a lot of technical and medical research studies explaining why people are overweight. We face a lot of temptations in North America and it’s not too hard to develop a problem – just travel through a food court in a shopping centre. I've been there, like a some other people in this forum. I'm certainly not trying to criticize a particular diet program and without a doubt, some people have medical issues to contend with.

What I'm really getting at is the theme and debate that is really running through this thread. Without a doubt, it’s hard to accomplish difficult things and I’m quite sympathetic to the discrimination that occurs against overweight people. But to your point, “(losing weight) to be more attractive outwardly is a losing battle. What happens when you don't feel attractive?”

Why is trying to be more attractive by losing weight a losing battle? One could view that as discriminatory. The real point is, don’t let it be an excuse.